Solid
by AnnieXMuller
Summary: A Watershed post-ep. One-shot.


"Javi?"

Esposito glanced up at the concern in Ryan's voice. "What's up?"

Ryan hovered in the doorway to the break-room, silent for a moment while Esposito wrestled with the coffee machine. "You seen Beckett?"

Esposito frowned as he punched a button and waited for the machine to do its thing. "She's not back yet?"

Ryan shook his head, stepped into the room, closed the door behind him. "That was almost two hours ago. What do you think she had to tell us?" Ryan pondered.

The word _pregnancy_ swirled around Esposito's brain. Damn Ryan for putting it there in the first place.

"What if they've broken up..."

"I don't want to hear this. No," Esposito decided, "No they're solid. They just had a fight, they'll work it out."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because they're Castle and Beckett," Esposito replied firmly.

A blur of movement caught Ryan's eyes and he turned. "Hey, it's Beckett," Ryan announced, as Kate breezed past the break-room window. He turned back to Esposito, eyebrows raised. "Where do you think she's going?"

They opened the break-room door and glanced out, as Beckett disappeared into Gates' office.

"She's not quitting is she?" Ryan asked quietly. "She'd tell us first, right?" He looked at his partner.

"Of course," but his voice was uncertain.

They watched silently as Kate spoke to Gates. Watched at the older woman nodded. Watched as she stood, and pulled Beckett into an awkward hug.

"Well, that looked uncomfortable," Ryan muttered.

"What is going on?" Esposito asked in confusion.

Beckett exited the office, and the two slipped back into the break-room, busying themselves with the coffee machine, Ryan fumbling with a mug while Esposito adjusted the steamer.

Kate entered, and closed the door quietly behind her. She exhaled a long sigh, before she lifted her head and met their eyes.

"Hey, guys," she began slowly, hesitantly.

"Hey, Beckett," Ryan replied, not quite able to maintain a casual tone.

Esposito held her eyes, noted her appearance - body just a little slumped, hands shoved firmly in her pockets, eyes red - and tilted his head, his own eyes now full of concern.

Kate nodded at his expression. "About before," she began, shifting her weight, more uncomfortable than Esposito had ever seen her. "I, ah, got a job offer, in D.C."

Ryan blinked, put his mug down slowly, and gave her his full attention. "Did you take it?" At the same time as Esposito asked, "What kind of job?"

She glanced between the two of them, nodding quickly to acknowledge their questions. "It was nothing, it doesn't matter now, I'm not taking the job."

"You considered it." Esposito said.

"Yeah," Kate replied on an exhaled sigh. "It was a great opportunity, to do more. But, I turned it down."

"Why?" Ryan asked.

"This is my home, guys," she replied, her voice stronger now. "This is where I belong. I couldn't leave my family." She gave them both a small smile.

"You couldn't leave Castle," Esposito added.

"We would have figured something out."

"Speaking of, when's he coming back?" Ryan asked.

"He's on his way, had to stop by his loft to pick something up."

"So you two are... good?" Ryan asked.

Kate smiled. "Yeah, we're good."

"It's just... You were gone a while..." Ryan let it trail off.

Esposito watched while she fidgeted with something in her left-hand pocket.

"We had some things to figure out, work through." She chuckled at herself. "We still have _a lot_ to figure out," she added. "But we're good, I promise."

"You sure you're okay?" Esposito asked softly.

Kate nodded, her lips turning up into a smile, her eyes shining. She slipped her hand out of her pocket to wipe at her eyes before the tears could fall.

"Holy shit!" Esposito yelped. "Beck- Kate. What?" His eyes locked on her hand, unable to articulate what he was looking at.

Kate glanced down at her hand, and grinned. "I was waiting for Castle to join us but..." She held her hand out so they could see the ring.

"He... he asked you... and you..." Ryan spluttered.

"I said yes," she confirmed, even though the ring said it all. She shrugged, and laughed softly. "_Eventually_, I said yes."

"I guess you two really did have a lot to figure out," Esposito agreed, taking in the shining diamonds on her ring finger.

"So, when Castle gets here, try to act like you don't already know, okay?"

Esposito elbowed Ryan in the ribs. "Wipe that grin off your face."

"I can't," Ryan replied, still smiling broadly. He reached out and pulled Kate into a warm hug. "Congratulations," he told her.

"Thank you," she replied, smiling as they separated.

Esposito reached for her, wrapping her in his arms. "This is good?" He asked quietly. "This is what you want?"

"Yes," she replied, her tone soft but sure.

"I'm happy for you, Kate."

"Thank you," she murmured.

"You're not pregnant, are you?" The words left Esposito's lips before he could stop them.

"No!" She exclaimed, pulling back. "What?"

They separated as Castle flung open the break-room door. "I guess they know," he announced, Ryan still unable to wipe the grin off his face, and Esposito and Kate still separating from the hug, both still looking a little shell-shocked from what he'd asked.

"Congratulations," Ryan told Castle happily.

Ignoring Kate's horrified expression, Esposito fist-bumped Castle, and congratulated him.

Castle wrapped his arm around Kate's shoulder, and drew her body against his. "Champagne?" He asked, holding up the bottle in his hand.

Ryan glanced at his watch. "In five minutes," he replied, as the clock slowly ticked towards Five PM.

"And in those five minutes," Esposito began, a menacing edge to his tone, his eyes locked on Castle's, "there's one thing we need to know."

"Oh?" Castle's gaze flicked between the two.

"Who's gonna be your best man?"

"Yeah," Ryan chimed in, taking a small step towards Castle. "Who's it gonna be?"

Castle swallowed thickly. "Uh..." He fumbled, stepping backwards as the two slowly advanced. "Patterson," he squeaked, and high-tailed it out of the break-room.

Kate fixed a glare on the two. "Really, guys?" A warning in her tone.

"I'm sure Jenny would be _honored _to fill any positions for you..." Ryan added.

"_Lanie's_ her best friend," Esposito argued.

They both chuckled as Kate rolled her eyes and left the room in a frustrated huff. Oh yeah, they were going to have way too much fun with this...


End file.
